| abstract |
The invention relates to forming an image from a random particle flux. Particles of the flux are detected by a discrete-cell detector having a cell size finer than conventionally used. Preferably, the cell size is sufficiently small that almost all cells of the detector count at most one particle during the image acquisition time. The count data are filtered through a band-limiting filter whose bandwidth lies between a bandwidth corresponding to the detector cell size and the flux bandwidth of interest. Outliers may be flattened before filtering. Neighborhoods around each cell are evaluated to differentiate stationary regions (where neighboring data are relatively similar) from edge regions (where neighboring data are relatively dissimilar). In stationary regions, a revised estimate for a cell is computed as an average over a relatively large neighborhood around the cell. In edge regions, a revised estimate is computed as an average over a relatively small neighborhood. For cells lying in an edge region but near a stationary/edge boundary, a revised estimate is computed by extrapolating from data in the nearby stationary region. |